I’m late writing this New Year’s post, which is fine, I think, as I’m actually going to be postponing all my New Year goals and intentions until mid-January. So this post really isn’t late – in fact, it’s a bit early, given my timeline!

Why am I postponing the official intention-filled start of my new year? I’m awash in a sea of deadlines right now and it’s been really, really hectic here. I managed to squeeze in two days off for Christmas and Boxing Day, and also gave myself the gift of New Year’s day, so I’m really happy about that.

I’ve been missing reading other blogger’s posts about the new year; I always find this time of year so motivating as everyone outlines their goals, dreams and intentions.

But the good news is, I spent my New Year being very bookish indeed. No, I didn’t actually READ any books – with so many deadlines and an intimate knowledge of my own lack of discipline when it comes to reading, I knew how dangerous picking up a novel could be. And I have several on my stack right now that I’m just dying to get to.

No, that way lay madness (or at least, not-meeting-deadlines).

So I did the next best thing. I opened up Amazon and the Toronto Public Library site on Chrome and began checking out all the latest books out there, in all my areas of interest (I have a lot of those) and then began clipping like crazy to Evernote, which is where I keep my various book lists, including my “library” list. I use that list when I’m not as busy – it’s the best time for putting holds on not-so-new books that I’ve been wanting to read for a while.

Most of the books I looked at were non-fiction. I find that the New Year always puts me in a non-fiction frame of mind. It’s that time of the year when I decide, YES! I’m going to do it. I’m going to spend this year doing all the things that I want to do!

What it boiled down to was a very pleasurable evening looking at books about art, photography, writing, spirituality, journaling, homeschooling, food, travel, science, history, productivity and creativity.

I love the one-thing-leads-to-another nature of this kind of book browsing. And then there’s that lovely feeling that comes from discovering there’s so much to read and to learn out there. Not to mention the security of knowing I’m never going to be at a loss for something to read.

In addition, I stuffed the Kindle app on my iPad with sample chapters from a ton of books.

And I also found time to go to my library’s ebook section, where I added a ton of cookbooks to my wishlist. Plus some history non-fiction, a handful of science ones, and some interesting looking crafty-type books (their selection of artsy and crafty ebooks is on the slender side,  unfortunately).

Here’s a  small selection of the many, many books I ended up adding to my various wishlists, at the library and on Evernote:

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

 The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants

Artist’s Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures

Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

The Book Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them

First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process

Commonplace Book, by E.M. Forster

There are a lot more titles on my wishlists; it’s been fun just going through my lists again, seeing what I’ve recorded. And I went on a min-book-buying splurge last weekend, in between deadlines. There’s a parcel filled with books headed my way right now.

Non-fiction, of course. Last year I didn’t read a lot of non-fiction. This year I’d like to balance fiction with non-fiction. But most of all, I want to devote a lot more time to reading!

So happy new year, everyone! Here’s to  a wonderful bookish year for all of you!